Posts Tagged ‘
inmate programs ’

HOUSTON (AP) — Tricia Chambers began her life heavily dependent on heroin and methadone. From there, she was peddled into child pornography, and by 9 she had a full-fledged career in prostitution, alongside her mother. Now 42, Chambers is getting what she believes to be her first real chance — in a downtown Houston cellblock.

Hope this Smith County program is as good as it sounds here. Let’s hear from staff and former inmates on how it’s going!

“Smith County Jail inmates are out this week, doing some farm work to help the hungry in the community.A joint effort between the Smith County Sheriff’s office and the East Texas Food Bank allows inmates to pick vegetables, with 100% of the going to needy families. The garden, which was opened in 2010, provides fresh, nutritious vegetables to over 100,000 East Texans.”

Texas County Progress The one-acre Kerr County Jail Garden has yielded more than 6,000 pounds of produce this year, said Kerr County Sheriff W.R. “Rusty” Hierholzer. “It gets the inmates out and gives back to our community,” Hierholzer explained. “We have anywhere from four to eight inmates who spend approximately seven hours a day in

Annette Garcia, Pro8 TV News Story Created: Sep 25, 2012 at 6:08 PM CDT Adrian Bailey isn’t the average student. He’s behind bars, sentenced to five years. He’ll be eligible for parole soon and says he’s ready for the world out there… thanks to an opportunity given to him in here as a GED student. He says right

Travis County Jail has developed model programs to help inmates turn their lives around. One reason for that is that Sheriff Hamilton makes this a priority, and another reason is that the people of Travis county fund, through their taxes, several important positions at the jail–employees who create and coordinate classes and training for inmates. This is a smart use of tax dollars that will save all of us money in the long run, while helping preserve families and lower recidivism rates. The PRIDE program* for non-violent women prisoners has to be one of the best. Here is a brief description and below that is a link to a page about all their programs.

Texas Jail Project is a group that works on issues to do with county jail, not Texas prisons – and since there are 245 county jails in Texas, we have our work cut out for us. But my work as a writer drew me to a non-jail topic; when a friend raved to me about the women and babies at the BAMBI program I knew I wanted to explore that in a story. Here it is in the new Texas Observer: http://www.texasobserver.org/cover-story/babysteps

Houston Community College is working with 205 inmates now, teaching trades and encouraging them to enroll in classes after they are released. We are glad to hear of any classes or training made available to county jail inmates – but we have to ask: are their classes geared to women inmates as well? Females in our jails usually receive fewer opportunities like this.

by Judy Sheridan, October 26, 2011 CNHI PARKER COUNTY — Driving through Parker County, jail trustees are a common sight, clearly visible in their bright orange shirts and striped pants as they paint, flag traffic, clear brush or work at the animal shelter. Their efforts — mainly manual labor — amount to thousands of hours

Via KXAN by Jim Swift, Friday, 17 Jun 2011, 6:46 PM CDT AUSTIN (KXAN) – Five days a week, a handful of Travis County Jail inmates rise at the crack of dawn and head out to a 3 1/2 acre garden in their own back yard. Racing to beat 100-plus temperatures, they don sunglasses and